Don’t blame JAMB if best student misses choice varsity — Board

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has said that it should not be blamed that the University of Lagos’ age stipulation may disallow the highest scorer in the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, Ezeunala Franklin, from getting admitted.

The 15-year-old boy had scored 347 in the 2019 exercise and picked UNILAG as his first choice, which has 16 years as its minimum age for admission.

JAMB said on Sunday that university regulations on admission were sacrosanct and could not be flouted by the board or by candidates.

The board noted in its weekly bulletin that while it was commendable that Franklin emerged the best, his “emergence should not be an excuse to flout the rules.”

The board said, “It is obvious that no nation has enough spaces for every candidate aspiring for tertiary education, hence the need to define parameters to ensure that equity and fairness are engendered in the admission exercise.

“The case in point is the result of the just-concluded 2019 UTME which has thrown up Ezeunala Franklin, as the highest scorer. He had picked the University of Lagos as his first choice. Coincidentally, the University of Lagos admits only candidates who are 16 years and above. This is their rule and it is expected that the candidates and the public abide by it.

“Universities all over the world define their rules on admissions and other requirements that would enable them give their best to the public. The board should not be blamed for the age stipulation as it stated explicitly in its integrated Brochure and Syllabus System.

“The responsibility of reading the instructions should not be that of the board but of the candidates and the public.

“The board notes with dismay the pressure for it to shift the goalpost in the middle of the game by some sections of the public. It is quite commendable that Franklin emerged the best but his emergence should not be an excuse to flout the rules as other institutions whose rules differ could give him a place.”